Trader Vic's prophetic warning about TV mixes

There've been several threads, bemoaning the changes (for the worse) in the various Trader Vic's mixes and syrups. Since some of the recipes in the TV Bartender's Guide (1972 rev. ed.) require the mix, the continuing slide in quality has led to attempts to reverse engineer the mix, from memories, in order to recover the taste of the original drink. Ironically, the ol' Trader himself warned us about just this type of problem, over 60 years ago.

In the original 1947 edition of his Bartender's Guide, he says,

"I've a little advice to offer on fancy mixes. I've always fought these things and speak from painful experience. Outside of grenadine, orgeat, and simple syrup, you'll eventually run into grief. Let's say you buy a new mix from a high-powered salesman and get started using it in a special drink that's really got something. The drink becomes a headliner and is selling good when all of a sudden the firm supplying your fancy mix goes broke or some other damn thing and you're stuck. Your special drink is out the window, and it's tough to build up a substitute. Better stick to liquors and their various combinations and the ingredients that nature always supplies and forget all the fancy stuff."

Later, Trader Vic's began marketing their own line of mixes (originally, good stuff), and he had to reverse himself in the 1972 revised edition of the Bartender's Guide,

"I originally held that it was better to make each individual drink. But with the changes in time and bars, I have changed my recommendations. Now I advise you to use mixes. They're usually good, they're fast and they're consistent... every drink is going to be the same - just as long as you use the same mix... "

This "revised" advice doesn't address the original wise warning: If you create a wonderful drink around a proprietary mix, and the essential mix becomes unavailable (or changes formulation - same thing), you're screwed.
Now, it's the very Trader Vic's brand of mixes that have gone crappy, and left us stranded, trying to find or "build up a substitute" so we can still enjoy those "special drinks" Victor and his bartenders invented.

[ Edited by: Limbo Lizard 2008-04-15 06:13 ]

It all comes down to the protection of trade secrets and proprietary information.

Certainly, mixes are essential when high volume comes into play. VJB, knowing this showed no shame in reversing his advice to steer clear of them. No doubt, he kept the formulae of his mixes close to the vest to ensure that you had to go to Trader Vic's to get the drink you wanted done right.

I'm guessing that he also took steps to preserve those formulae so they would not be lost. They probably still exist someplace. Unless it is written somewhere in his will that the custodian of those formulae take a specific action to keep them alive, whoever owns their rights seems to have thrown quality out the window and opted to substitute it with cheap ingredients.

Based on VJB's philosophy, I'm sure that all of his mixes are made up of ingredients that are readily available, so that if your main source dries up you can go to ten others without losing stride. The whole key revolves around who inherited his formulae and what has since become of them. You can bet that if the Trader ever imagined the kind of crap "his" mixes have become, he would not only have published the formulae, he probably would have handed them out on cocktail napkins to all of his patrons.

I agree that if, in order to handle high-volume service and protect trade secrets, your create your OWN mix, you've got no problem. And that's what he did. It's only a problem when you are at the mercy of someone else's product, over which you have no control. And that's us.

For marketing food/drink products, the Trader Vic's brand name has value because of a reputation for quality, for the image it evokes, and for its history. It took years to build the reputation, but they're losing it quickly. Maybe they've lost interest in the products for retail, so they're selling the use of the name to someone who wants to make a quick buck. Or maybe they somehow just don't realize how bad the new stuff is. But it's a shame, because they are seriously degrading the value of their brand name. The first page of results in an internet search for "Trader Vic's, drink mix", or similar, will turn up multiple hits on Tiki Central, none of it very positive.

I sure wish someone at TV corporate would realize that it's a problem, and restore the original formulations, while the brand name still has enough value to be worth protecting. (gripe, gripe, gripe)

try bahooka mixes dey is good!

On 2008-04-14 22:04, sneakyjack wrote:
try bahooka mixes dey is good!

I'll bet they are, and like so much in the wonderful world of tiki, only available in SoCal!
Looked up Bahooka's website. Looks like a place to put on the should-see list, if I visit LA. Menu is a little afflicted by that belief that if you tack "Hawaiian" or "Tahitian" to the name of some of your traditional American fare, it becomes "Polynesian" food. Still, the drink menu looks fun (lotta gin, though) and the food is probably great for what it is. And I could buy some of their mixes while I'm there, learn to love them, then run out of them, and now we're back to the problem with mixes.

Don't anyone get me wrong. I buy, use and appreciate good mixes. I understand the practical advantages of mixes. I just thought it was interesting and ironic that Victor B's original advice has become so apropos to the situation today, regarding Trader Vic's own brand of mixes. It's a shame what's happened to TV mixes, not a tragedy.

In a perverse way, it's even contributing to some of the enjoyment of tiki mixology by creating another challenge. In both cooking and drink mixing, part of the fun is in trying to suss out that secret ingredient or proportion in someone's prize recipe. It's much of what goes on, here.

[ Edited by: Limbo Lizard 2008-04-15 06:58 ]

I love the Bahooka, but not its cocktails. The yams and the ribs go better with beer anyway. That bowl drink on their website unfortunately tastes exactly like it looks:

On 2008-04-15 21:33, bigbrotiki wrote:
I love the Bahooka, but not its cocktails... That bowl drink on their website unfortunately tastes exactly like it looks:

And it looks like a vat of cherry Kool-aid. OK, got it - try the food, but pass on the cocktails.